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S. D. Smith's The Green Ember is a big rabbit adventure for 8 year olds about a brother and sister whose quiet meadow life goes up in smoke.
Heather and Picket live in an elm-tree home in Nick Hollow with Mother, Father and Baby Jacks. Their favourite thing is Starseek, a game Heather made up with a few sticks and her scarlet hair ribbon. You fling the "star" into the long grass and race to grab it first.
Picket is quick and clever. Heather is faster (and VERY keen to stay champion). Their squabbling feels so real. He's scared of heights and hates being teased about it, and she can't quite help herself.
Then a storm rolls in. Lightning hits the old maple at the edge of the forbidden wood, a burning branch comes crashing down and Picket faints (he's mortified about it afterwards).
That night Father tells them a true story by the fire about a great rabbit king called Jupiter. He cries as he tells it. Why would such a happy story make Father so sad?
By the next morning there's a stern old lady at the breakfast table, bent over maps with Father and whispering about wolves. The children get packed off to pick berries, grumbling that nobody ever tells them anything.
It reads like a proper old-fashioned knights tale, with oaths and swords and kings, except everybody has long ears. The cosy family scenes are lovely. Mother teases Father about calling his glasses "spectacles", and Picket promises Baby Jacks he'll never let him down. Those quiet moments make what follows hit much harder.
The danger arrives early and it's the real thing. Wolves in uniform set fire to the family's home while the children are out. Heather sends Picket off to hide and turns to face the wolves on her own, and one of them jokes about eating her. She has no idea what's happened to her parents or the baby.
Nothing is gory, but it's frightening and sad. If your reader gets very upset when a family is torn apart, this might be one to read together. If they love a brave big sister and a cause worth fighting for, they'll be completely hooked.
It's the first Green Ember book and the story carries straight on from one book to the next, so this is the place to start.
If the fainting rabbit is the one they root for, try The Tale of Despereaux. He's a tiny mouse with enormous ears who faints at loud noises, gets hooked on a story about a brave knight and decides he'd better be brave like one.
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